Off script? The arts after Covid-19

On tonight's show, our reporters bring you the latest from South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a national state of disaster over the deadly floods on the east coast, warning that rebuilding even basic services will take time. Around the city of Durban, at least 443 people have died, with 48 still missing. Some 10,000 troops have been deployed to help restore power and water and search for the missing.

It's one of the cornerstones of French democracy: the presidential debate. Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen have vanished from the campaign trail in order to prepare Wednesday night's crunch face-off on live TV. The far-right candidate hopes not to repeat the mistakes she made five years ago.

Can she erase the memory of meltdown in 2017? Trailing in the polls, Marine Le Pen has got ground to make up when she squares off with Emmanuel Macron in the one and only French presidential election candidates' debate. It is an exercise that matters in a nation that takes its politics seriously.

French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen face off in their only debate ahead of Sunday's presidential run-off. For Le Pen, who lags behind Macron in voter surveys, the confrontation is a chance to persuade voters that she has the stature to be president and that they should not fear seeing the far right in power.

A Nigerian exhibition, "Art In Autism", is showcasing work from teenagers with autism to raise awareness of the condition in a country where diagnosed children are often shunned and kept behind closed doors.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is home to a vibrant, and diverse, arts scene from contemporary creations to performance to dance. The DRC's more established artists are represented at festivals and exhibitions worldwide, but at home, they lack support or protection. We meet artists in Kinshasa to discuss the future of Congo's art scene.

Kenya-based Yvonne Waiyaki uses art as therapy for deaf children. With support and proper follow-up, they are integrated in the community and can achieve as much as their hearing peers.

This year, France is celebrating Portuguese culture with concerts, exhibitions and performances from the country's top artists. To mark the occasion, FRANCE 24's culture show Encore! takes you on a musical voyage to Lisbon. The Portuguese capital has a sound like no other European city, where a boom in music influenced by African beats is eroding social barriers and making waves internationally.

If you have been a constant follower of the Nigerian music industry, you would have noticed a constant bitter battle involving artists and record labels. Entertainment lawyer, Akinyemi Ayinoluwa talks to GuardianTV about the issues and how they can be solved. 

Brooklyn-based duo Bottler (aka producers Pat Butler and Phil Shore) have created a unique soundscape blending a myriad of styles including pop, indie rock, trip-hop and club music. In 2020, they released a double bill of EPs, "Clementine" and "Grow". Now the childhood friends are back with their debut album "Journey Work", in which they’re on a mission to explore and express the full spectrum of human experience. They joined us on Encore! to tell us more.

As the 75th Cannes Film Festival gets underway, FRANCE 24's Olivia Salazar-Winspear brings us a glimpse of what its opening ceremony will involve, including a Palme d’Honneur for Forest Whitaker. We also take a look at the composition of this year’s jury, with French actor Vincent Lindon shepherding an artistic team who'll assess the features competing for the Palme d’Or. Plus we get a preview of the opening film "Final Cut", in which director Michel Hazanavicius declares his love for genre movies in a lighthearted French parody of a zombie horror slasher.

As the international art world flocks to Dakar for its much-anticipated Biennale, Senegalese artist Fally Sene Sow just has to look out the window to find inspiration in the colourful and chaotic market street outside his studio in the capital.